By Dell Rose
The Swedenborg Library in Chicago (swedlib.org) is pleased to announce a series of spring programs exploring one of the most enigmatic and philosophically challenging texts in the Hebrew Bible: the Book of Job. Beginning in April and continuing through May 2026, the Library will host a multi-session online seminar titled “The Book of Job: Between Humor, Heresy, and Revelation,” led by Swedenborg Doctoral Scholar Dell J. Rose. All sessions will take place on Thursdays at 6:00PM CTvia Zoom, continuing the Library’s commitment to making serious intellectual programming accessible to participants in Chicago and beyond.
Few biblical texts have provoked as much reflection—and discomfort—as the Book of Job. The narrative presents a sustained challenge to conventional theological assumptions about divine justice. In contrast to the familiar expectation that righteousness leads to prosperity and wickedness to punishment, Job depicts a world in which an innocent man suffers catastrophic loss without explanation. The presence of such a text within the biblical canon has fascinated scholars and theologians for centuries. Its enduring power lies precisely in the unsettling questions it refuses to resolve too easily.
This spring seminar approaches the Book of Job from several complementary perspectives: its literary structure, its historical origins, and its theological implications. Participants will engage closely with the Biblical text while also considering how later interpreters—including the eighteenth-century visionary theologian Emanuel Swedenborg—have approached its themes. Particular attention will be given to the book’s remarkable poetic form and its place within the intellectual world of the Persian-period Hebrew scriptures.
The program begins on April 16 with an exploration of the textual origins of Job, introducing participants to the historical and literary questions surrounding the composition of the book. This discussion continues on April 23, expanding the analysis of the text’s formation and its relationship to wider ancient Near Eastern traditions.
On April 30, the seminar turns to the distinctive character of the work itself in a session titled “A Strange Book: Recognizing the Oddity of the Job Text.” Participants will examine the unusual literary structure of the book, which combines prose narrative, poetic dialogue, and philosophical debate.
The May sessions move more deeply into the text. On May 14, the seminar focuses on the prologue of Job (1:1–2:13) and the early exchanges between Job and his companions. The discussion continues on May 21 with an analysis of Eliphaz’s second discourse and Job’s responses, paying particular attention to the rhetorical strategies that shape the dialogue. The May series concludes on May 28 with a discussion of secondary responses to Job and the speeches of Elihu, which introduce a new interpretive voice into the debate prior to the climactic divine speeches later in the book.
Participants are encouraged to obtain Edward L. Greenstein’s “Job: A New Translation” (Yale University Press, 2019), which will serve as the primary text for the seminar and allow readers to engage closely with the poetic subtleties of the Hebrew text in translation (tinyurl.com/39z7ssh9).
In addition to the Job seminar, the Swedenborg Library is also preparing a special lecture by Anna Madison exploring the relationship between Emanuel Swedenborg and the artistic imagination of the Pre-Raphaelites. This forthcoming presentation will examine how Swedenborg’s visionary theology influenced nineteenth-century aesthetic movements, particularly among artists and writers associated with the Pre-Raphaelite circle. By tracing connections between Swedenborgian ideas and the symbolic language of Victorian art, Madison’s talk will open a fascinating window onto the cultural after lives of Swedenborg’s thought. The lecture is planned for May 2026, with the specific date to be announced shortly.
The Swedenborg Library in Chicago is also beginning preparations for a future retreat program intended to bring together readers, scholars, and spiritually curious participants for several days of shared study, reflection, and conversation. While details are still being developed, members of the community are warmly invited to help shape the program by completing a brief intake survey. Those interested in participating or learning more can fill out the survey here: tinyurl.com/4cdrezdc.
Through these programs, the Swedenborg Library Chicago continues its mission of fostering thoughtful engagement with sacred texts, intellectual history, and the interpretive traditions that continue to animate them. Further information about all upcoming events and registration can be found at swedlib.org.
Read the full issue of the April Messenger.
Meet Dell Rose
Dell J. Rose (Swedenborg Library, Chicago & HHP Centre- Universiteit van Amsterdam) is on the ordination track for the Swedenborgian Church of North America and is a historian of religions, working on Swedenborg’s global reception. His work engages New Testament studies, Japanese History, radical theology in the Reformation, Italian Fascism, as well as science in the early modern period. At present, he is at work on his book, The Meiji Swedenborg: Western Concepts in Eastern Esotericism, a project supported by Swedenborg House, United Kingdom, and the Aries Series in Western Esotericism at Brill.
